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Patent Law Treaty

The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is a treaty signed on 1 June 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland, by 53 States and the European Patent Organisation (anintergovernmental organization). It entered into force on April 28, 2005. It aims at harmonizing and streamlining formal procedures such as the requirements to obtain a filing date for a patent application, the form and content of a patent application, and representation. The treaty "does not establish a uniform procedure for all parties to the PLT but leaves parties free to require fewer or more user-friendly requirements than those provided in the PLT."^[1] As of February 2023, the PLT had 43 contracting states.^[2]

History[edit]

The examples and perspective in this section deal primarily with Canada, France, and the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

France[edit]

Prior to the entry into force of the treaty in France, a bill was submitted on 14 January 2009 at the French Senate proposing the ratification of the PLT by France.^[3][4] In March 2009, a report from French Senator Rachel Mazuir recommended the ratification of the PLT, as soon as possible, by France.^[5][6] On 24 July 2009, the government was authorized to ratify the PLT.^[7] The PLT then entered into force for France on 5 January 2010.^[2]

United States[edit]

The Treaty was transmitted from the President to the Senate in 2006. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued its Executive Report 110-6 in November 2007. Non-self-executing portions of the PLT were implemented as statute by the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012, Pub. Law 112-211 (Dec. 12, 2012). The PLT was ratified by the United States on 18 September 2013, and the ratification instrument was forwarded to WIPO. The Patent Office's implementing regulations were proposed at 78 Fed. Reg. 21788 (Apr. 11, 2013) and issued as a Final Rule at 78 Fed. Reg. 62367 (Oct. 21, 2013).

Mexico[edit]

Article 20(7)(3) of the proposed new NAFTA, in December 2019, stated that "Each Party shall give due consideration to ratifying or acceding to the PLT, or, in the alternative, shall adopt or maintain procedural standards consistent with the objective of the PLT".^[8]

See also[edit]

• Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
• Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT)
• European Convention relating to the Formalities required for Patent Applications (1953)

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Mulder, Cees (November 2014). "Patent Law Treaty: Promises Not Delivered-How the Negotiations Resulted in Ambiguities in the Treaty: Patent Law Treaty". The Journal of World Intellectual Property. 17 (5–6): 160–190. doi:10.1002/jwip.12028.

External links[edit]

• Patent Law Treaty in the WIPO Lex database – official website of WIPO.
  • The full text of the Patent Law Treaty (in English)